124: THE BLOOD. 



called colostrum corpuscles, they generally undergo this 

 change. 1 As the result of inflammatory action, when they 

 are sometimes called inflammatory or exudation corpuscles, 

 leucocytes frequently become much hypertrophied, and are 

 filled with fatty granules. They always retain, however, 

 general characters by which they may be recognized. 



Development of Leucocytes. These corpuscles appear 

 in the blood-vessels very early in foetal life, before the lym- 

 phatics can be demonstrated. They arise in the same way 

 as the red corpuscles, by genesis from materials existing in 

 the vessels. They appear in lymphatics, before we come to 

 the lymphatic glands, and in the foetus anterior to the devel- 

 opment of the spleen, and also on the surface of mucous 

 membranes ; so theyannot_be considered as produced exclu- 

 sively by these glands, as has been supposed. There is no 

 organ nor class of organs in the body specially charged 

 w r ith their formation ; and though frequently a result of in- 

 flammation, this process is by no means necessary for their 

 production. Robin 2 has carefully noted the phenomena of 

 their development in recent wounds. The first exudation 

 consists of clear fluid, with a few red corpuscles ; then a 

 finely granular blastema. In from a quarter of an hour to an 

 hour, pale transparent globules, -g-^oir t -g-oVo- f an mcn ' m 

 diameter, make their appearance, which soon become finely 

 granular, and present the ordinary appearance of leucocytes. 

 They are thus developed, like other anatomical elements, by 



1 Colostrum is the discharge from the mammary glands, occurring during the 

 first few days after delivery, which precedes the full establishment of the lacteal 

 secretion. It is a serous fluid, rather clear, which presents, on microscopical 

 examination, a few milk globules, large drops of oil, rounded masses of small 

 fatty granules, and enlarged and granular leucocytes, called colostrum corpuscles, 

 as well as those which have undergone no alteration. These gradually disappear, 

 as the secretion is established, and their place is supplied by the milk globules. 

 (See " Colostrum," Nysten's Dictionary, by Littre and Robin; Paris, 1858.) 



3 Loc. cit. 



